Quote Originally Posted by ducksterman View Post
...We also have problems discussing some of this stuff because we don't have standard definitions...e.g. stepdowns,,,runs...etc.
Seems to me that we have problems discussing some of this stuff because people don't use simple English to describe things. Steven may have a lot of history with furled leaders and may have done some great stuff looking into the mechanics of it all, but I get very little out of what he says about them because he uses a specialized language about methods with which I am not familiar.

As I see it, there are three basic things, beyond material, to consider in making a furled leader. Length, whether you want to discuss it in terms of starting or finished length. Configuration, which is the number of strands in each section of the leader. And proportions, as in X% butt section, Y% mid section, and Z% tip section.

Those three basics can be discussed without reference to the actual system or method used to make the leader, and there are at least four or five different approaches that I can recall from prior discussions, from Kathy's method using a board, to mine using manual power on a very different jig, to Kaboom's mechanized system.

Getting back to Steven's comments quoted from the other thread, the only thing I can relate to are his comments on proportion at 60% butt, 20% mid, and 20% tip. However, where Steven says leaders are normally made in his stated proportions, when I started building leaders and then when I started furling leaders, the consensus seemed to be proportions of 40% butt, 30% mid, and 30% tip. I know others use different proportions ( without getting into nymph leaders with only two sections or the beefed up models which might have four sections ), although I don't see many people refering to their proportions in percentage terms very often.

As to the comment "You many not notice it when casting, but the furled leader has a hing effect, from the runs being unbalanced," all I can say is that if I don't notice it, so what ?? If I do notice it, and it bothers me or effects my distance or accuracy in getting the fly where I want it, then it is something that is worth thinking about and fixing.

It would be great if we could / would all talk the same basic, simple, non specialized language when discussing furled leaders. And leave the peg diameters, loop sequences, and peg positions up to the individual or discuss them in terms of a specific, identified method of furling rather than as generalities that apply to all approaches, which they don't.

Just saying ....

John